Lalit Modi was banned for life by the BCCI from all cricket matters in India but the ban was stayed by the Rajasthan High Court in October. His legal counsel claims that since the RCA is governed by the Rajasthan Sports Act, the BCCI ban is not applicable on him.

Written by Press Trust of India

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The high voltage elections of the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) have been scheduled for December 19 even as uncertainty prevails over former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi's participations in the poll.

The judge appointed by Supreme Court as principal observer, Justice NM Kasliwal, announced the date on which union minister C P Joshi is expected to take on opposite faction which has witnessed the alliance of foes turned friends Modi and Sanjay Dixit.

"The elections of RCA would be held on December 19 while the nominations would be filed between 14th to 16th December. The scrutiny would be done on 17th while 18th is the date for withdrawls. The polling would be held on 19th between 11 am to 2 pm. The results would be sent to Supreme Court in sealed envelope and would be declared later by the apex court," Justice Kasliwal announced.

Earlier, Joshi, the current RCA president, had announced on November 24 as the election date after his rival Dixit, the RCA secretary, who has teamed up with banned former IPL commissioner Modi, notified the various district associations that the polls were being held on November 23. Keeping this internal squabbling in view, Justice Kasliwal had deferred the election date.

Since then, he was solving controversies and legal tangles of the 33 district associations to chart out the eligibility lists. The judge also declared that Dixit cannot contest the elections as he is a government servant. "Former president and existing secretary IAS Dixit, who is also president of the Barmer District Cricket Association, will not be allowed to fight the elections because he is a government servant. The secretary of the Alwar District Cricket Association, Pawan Goyal also faces the same fate because of a litigation case against him," he said. However, Justice Kasliwal remained silent on Modi, the former RCA president and also president of Nagaur District association

Modi was banned for life by the BCCI from all cricket matters in India but the ban was stayed by the Rajasthan High Court in October only to be pulled back recently. Modi had announced his intention to run for the RCA president's post. Modi's legal counsel claims that since the RCA is governed by the Rajasthan Sports Act, the BCCI ban is not applicable on the former BCCI vice-president.

This made the election scenario interesting because his faction claims to have support from 19 district units. The thumping majority of Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) has also made the road more difficult for the Union Minister Joshi. It is worth recollecting that it was with the then BJP CM Vasundhara Raje, that Sports Act was formulated to pave way for Modi and oust the Rungta clan from RCA in 2005 elections. Vasundhara Raje would be soon taking over as Rajasthan CM but it would be interesting to see if Modi is able to regain his foot hold in Rajasthan as well as Indian cricket.

It remains unclear whether he will fight the RCA elections from London or prefers to avoid controversy by supporting the candidature of one of his confidants. There are 33 voters (districts) that make up the electoral list and only an office-bearer of a district association is eligible to contest the election. According to the Rajasthan Sports Act 2005 that governs the RCA, only the president, secretary and treasurer are the valid office-bearers.